City Black I
City Black I, '''also known as '''City Black Part I '''or '''Saga of the White Tower, is the first volume of the City Black novel series. Characters Plot The Morning After A disheveled young woman wakes up in the middle of an alley in the rain with knife wounds in her chest after being assaulted and abandoned. Unusually, her wounds are a lot less deep and severe than they were when she last saw them a couple of hours ago. She tries to recall the events of the day before but doing so gives her a racking headache. The light of a passing car blanks her mind and suddenly she begins to cry, wondering why she wasn't dead and why she was given a second chance despite her acting so stupid. These questions drive her, so she flees the alleyway and runs off, swearing that she'll never experience something like this ever again. The Days Before The girl is revealed to be sixteen-year-old Brynn Blackwood 'and she engages in a conversation with her aunt Crystyn Blackwood about the city they currently live in and how bizarre it is. The conversation becomes heated and out of frustration, Brynn curses out her aunt and walks out of the house. On her walk, she bumps into a beautiful woman wearing a white dress walking with a Japanese-styled parasol. The woman sincerely apologizes and hurries past Brynn until she suddenly collapses on the ground. Brynn tries to neglect the woman but a foreign feeling consumes her and she helps her anyway. They begin to talk and the woman's name is announced to be 'Deryn Hier. Deryn apparently collapsed due to a lack of food and Brynn volunteers to take her out to a place to eat, unable to do differently. The two go out and chat some more while dining and Deryn learns of Brynn's recent distaste towards her aunt and her current circumstances of not wanting to return home. The offer of letting Brynn stay with Deryn at her hotel comes up but before they could finish, Deryn tells Brynn that she has to go. Brynn receives her hotel address and decides to pass despite being somewhat charmed by the mysterious woman. She comes home eventually only to have another devastating argument with her aunt which ends in her packing her things and leaving for good. She doesn't leave without telling her aunt to go die along with the rest of the family. Brynn arrives at Deryn's hotel and the two appear in her room. Out of the blue, Deryn confesses a slight attraction towards Brynn and before she could respond, Deryn tackles her onto the bed and the two begin vehemently kissing. One thing leads to another and the two begin a peculiar relationship. After Deryn heads out, Brynn lies in bed, questioning what she just got herself into. The Nights Before Two weeks have passed and Brynn and Deryn have been engaging in more sexual and romantic acts, Deryn's passion and aggressiveness only getting stronger. One night, Deryn tells Brynn to not quickly disbelieve what she's about to tell her. It takes some convincing, but the lovestruck Brynn eventually agrees and Deryn begins. She reveals to Brynn that she is a Wraith and that the reason why Brynn was unable to neglect her is because she telepathically reconstructed her priorities. Brynn is incapable of responding to this which leads Deryn to believe that she now distrusts her. Unable to deal with that fact and thinking that Brynn no longer loves her, Deryn begins to freak out and attempts to kill her with a nearby blade. Halting Deryn, Brynn assures her that she still loves her and just that she was unresponsive because she didn't know how to reply. Deryn calms down and in order for Brynn to prove that she isn't lying about loving her, Deryn forces her to take a strange orange capsule, which she calls a Humbili, or else she will kill her. Determined to show her loyalty, Brynn swallows the pill and instantly becomes wrecked by the drug, her mentality converting to a satisfyingly kooky state. This prompts Brynn to get hooked on the effects, something Deryn is impressed by. They strike a deal; as long as Brynn and Deryn stay together, Brynn can continue to take all of the Humbili she wants. This goes on for days and after looking at herself in the mirror, Brynn notices that her skin is getting paler, thinner, and more sluggish. She concludes these to be the consequences of loving Deryn and discerning how far she's fallen, she breaks down and speeds out of the hotel to go back to her aunt, praying that she can forgive her for how terribly she acted. The Morning to Never Come Before she can escape to safety, Deryn encounters her and starts suspecting her in an unemotional tone. The Wraith begins to beat on Brynn before stabbing her mercilessly in the chest and dumping her declining body in an alley. Prior to abandoning her, Deryn gives her one last kiss to drain the essence from her and reveals that Brynn isn't the first person she's done this to, however, she was the first person she truly fell in love with. Left to die, Brynn begins reflecting on everything that's happened up to now and sleeps from the exhaustion, believing that her aunt will forgive her once she passes on. Her death never comes for some odd reason and she finds herself back where she was at the opening of the story and runs off just like before, this time going in the direction of Deryn's hotel with a burning anger filling her heart. She finds Deryn walking back and nails her to the ground and punches her relentlessly. The two exchange blows and eventually find themselves unable to keep fighting realizing that their attacks aren't doing anything to each other. They each fall backward and lie in the rain, soon pouring out their hearts to one another instead of fighting. Deryn tells Brynn that she can't go back to her aunt after today because of her relationship with the supernatural. Brynn recalls her aunt telling her not to involve herself with the supernatural and now unable to return the normal side of Burnsley, she joins Deryn and the two pick up where they left off, fighting until the sun comes up. Chapters * Chapter 1 - The Morning After * Chapter 2 - The Days Before (2) * Chapter 3 - The Days Before (3) * Chapter 4 - The Days Before (4) * Chapter 5 - The Nights Before (1) * Chapter 6 - The Nights Before (2) * Chapter 7 - The Nights Before (3) * Chapter 8 - The Nights Before (4) * Final Chapter - The Morning to Never Come